One Simple Question
by friendofkara
Summary: A slight AU take on an incident in "Blood Bonds." Cat Grant is on the verge of committing career suicide. Fortunately for her, Kara Danvers is a loyal assistant who thinks fast under pressure. Chapter 3: Cat answers Kara's questions and gives her a new assignment.
1. One Simple Question

(I don't own the characters.)

Cat Grant was used to being the smartest, most capable person around. As early as junior high, she had noticed that she was brighter and worked harder than the overwhelming majority of her peers. As she progressed in her career, her confidence in herself was almost always affirmed and rarely challenged. Which meant she almost never had occasion to feel stupid. And when she did, the relative unfamiliarity of the experience made it that much harder to bear.

Recognizing the problem didn't help Cat very much right now. Because right now she felt like the world's greatest idiot.

And it was all because of one simple question that her soon-to-be-ex assistant had asked her.

And because she, Cat Grant, had left her no alternative but to ask it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kara came out on the balcony at her boss' call. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

"Sit." The voice was cold and accompanied by a gesture.

The moment she sat down in the plush chair, Miss Grant moved toward her and spoke again. "Look into my eyes, Kiera. What do you see?"

"Um . . ."

"Bags." The two women nodded simultaneously.

Miss Grant continued, "I stayed up until dawn watching the news coverage of Supergirl. All the interrupted muggings, and the averted car crashes, and the more I watched, the more I thought about the terrible things that happen while you're here at work."

Kara chuckled. "That should prove to you that I'm not her. I'm in here while she's out there."

Her boss was not impressed, "Oh, please. We both know that Supergirl is capable of pulling off that parlour trick. What it really proves to me is how little this job means to you."

Kara looked like a deer in the headlights. "No, that's not true, I love my job."

Miss Grant overrode her. "Every minute that you waste playing assistant in here is a minute that someone out there is not getting saved."

"Miss Grant, what are you saying?"

"I am saying that I will not partake in this ruse any longer. So you either prove to me that you are not Supergirl," she stood up "or you can clean out your desk, tomorrow."

Kara stood up, walked to the edge of the balcony and looked away from her mentor.

"Let me be sure I understand you. I don't see how I can prove I'm not Supergirl and you don't believe me when I say I'm not her. So it doesn't matter whether or not I'm Supergirl, you'll fire me tomorrow."

"That's right," Her boss said.

"I'd like the rest of this conversation to be off the record. You'll see why in a minute."

"All right." Without moving a muscle, Cat knew she had won. Her assistant was going to reveal herself as Supergirl.

"I've worked for you for two years. Can we stipulate that I'm not trying to flatter you when I say that during those years, I've seen nothing that causes me to question the judgement of the Business Week writer who called you the sharpest CEO in media? Nor have I seen anything that causes me to question the judgement of that Time profiler who called you the most feared and effective interviewer American journalism has right now?"

"So stipulated." Cat wondered where Keira was going with this.

But you've missed something that is absolutely obvious to me, and I can't help but wonder why."

"And what have I missed?" her boss asked. Idly, she noticed that Keira still wasn't looking at her.

"Tomorrow, when you fire Kara Danvers, you think you'll also be firing Supergirl, correct?"

"Yes, so?"

"I'm sorry to do this, Miss Grant, but you've left me no choice. Why do you think Supergirl will still remain loyal to CatCo as her preferred media outlet after you fire her?"

Cat Grant felt her entire world spin upside down in an instant. " _Oh SHIT!,"_ she thought as she felt the blush reflex suffuse her cheeks.

Her assistant still didn't turn and look at her. Instead, she waited a few moments, then continued.

"Your silence suggests that you think Supergirl would not remain loyal to CatCo in that situation. When I studied history in college, one of my courses was in military history. I learned then that a wise general doesn't plan for what he thinks an enemy will do, he plans for the worst thing that the enemy could do. If you make Supergirl your enemy, what is the worst thing she could do?"

"She'd take her exclusives to some other media contact." Cat didn't need to think about that answer. It had been hitting her over the head as soon as Keira had asked her first question about Supergirl's possible reaction.

"Which one would be worst from your, and CatCo's, point of view?"Cat realized that her assistant was following the same line of thought that she had already fully thought through.

"No question, the Daily Planet."

"Why would that one be the worst?"

The words Cat had to speak were ashes on her tongue and she was grateful Keira wasn't looking at her. Even in the midst of her humiliation, Cat's professional conscience admired the way her assistant was conducting the interview. She was moving slowly, step by step, covering all the bases. "Because if Supergirl moves to the Planet, her move will carry an unspoken message that everybody will get instantly. And that message is that Cat Grant doesn't have a clue how to manage a professional relationship with a superhero, so Supergirl is moving to a media outlet with a proven record in that department."

"And what will the financial impact of that move be on CatCo?" Keira was relentless, but her voice was still calm and uninflected.

"You know very well: you helped edit the financials."

"Humor me for a moment, please. Let's pretend I've forgotten them."

"Last year we made over three-quarters of a million dollars selling reprint rights to Supergirl stories. Not to mention the boost in our circulation and general advertising revenue that those stories have brought in. And since CatCo's total net profit was only a quarter of a million, the loss of Supergirl means that we move from being one of the very few profitable media companies to just another loser. And you don't need to ask me how the board will take that news. You've politely forced me to admit that neither CatCo nor I can afford to lose Supergirl right now. The corollary is obvious: I need to reverse my decision. If I can. And, Keira?

"Yes, Miss Grant."

"Not only are you far more intelligent and quick witted that the average assistant I see, you are a very clever interviewer. I couldn't have done that takedown better myself. But there is one question you've raised that is staring me in the face."

"Go ahead and ask it." Keira still wasn't looking at her.

"I fire you, and instead of walking out like almost every other fired employee would do, you are loyal enough to me and to CatCo that you politely force me to prove to myself that I made a bad decision. Why are you so loyal? What is it with you?"

For the first time, her assistant turned and looked at her. "That's a very good question, Miss Grant, but you don't know the half of it. I need to get something from my desk to show you. I'll be back in a second."

Her employer nodded. Kara Danvers walked to her desk and came back. She handed a large, bulging folder with a string tab closure marked "Property of Kara Danvers – Private" to her employer and said "Open it. Check out the contents."

Cat opened the envelope and removed the contents. They were job offers, each one marked "Declined." She began to count them. When she reached 50, she stopped.

"How many are there?" she asked.

"They average about three a week for the last year. All unsolicited. They started coming the day I outlasted your previous longest serving assistant's tenure. You have the reputation as the most demanding boss in the country, so it seems that surviving this long as your assistant is all the references I need. And it's not just media jobs. People like Max Lord and Bruce Wayne and Tim Cook want me as their EA. I've even had a few of them call me directly, a couple more than once. And there's one other job offer you should know about that isn't in there, because it wasn't made to Kara Danvers. It was made to Supergirl. And before you say "Aha!," the reason I know about it is because my sister works for an FBI unit that has had some dealings with Supergirl and she told me that they've offered her a job as a consultant, at double the salary CatCo is paying me. And Supergirl turned them down, because, according to my sister, she didn't want to quit the job she already had."

"Now you called me "far more intelligent than the average assistant" and "very clever" a few seconds ago. If I were Supergirl, don't you think I would have been intelligent enough to have realized long ago that I needed to move to new employment before you could out me? I mean, it's no secret that I look like Superman. James Olsen spotted the likeness the minute he saw me. And that was before Supergirl came out. So if I'm Supergirl, I must have known that the likeness would be a huge problem for me from the moment I saved the plane, right?"

Cat nodded.

"And from that point of view, where is the worst place in the world for Supergirl to work?"

Cat smiled, "The media organization that is promoting her left, right and center."

"And the single most risky job for her to have in that company would be, what?"

Cat snorted, "You don't have to belabor the obvious, Kiera: the most dangerous job for Supergirl to hold at CatCo is the job you now have. And since I have conceded that you are not unintelligent and very clever, let me save some time. I also recognize that there must be a reason why you are staying here when you could have left for any of these job offers any time you wanted to, without arousing my suspicions in the least."

"Yes. So here are the real questions you need to answer. What's so important to Supergirl about her current job that she turned down the FBI offer, and, if I am Supergirl, what's so important about this job that I continued to work here, despite the huge risk that you'd out me sooner or later? And the most important question is this: why did you not think through what Supergirl could do to CatCo in payback if you fired her? If I may make a suggestion . . . ?"

Her employer nodded.

"Maybe you should postpone your decision until you get the answers to those questions. After all, you don't like to lose a story and since it's at least partly a Supergirl story we're discussing, I think you'd really not want to lose it."

"You're right about that, I don't. And if I do it your way, I don't have to hire and train another new assistant. At least not just yet."

"Yes, there's that, too. Good night, Miss Grant. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Keira."


	2. The First Interview: Supergirl

2\. Cat Grant Investigates: The First Interview, Supergirl

When Cat got home, it was late. Since Carter was already asleep, she immediately went to her home office. On a scratch pad, she listed the questions her assistant had asked her to consider. Then she considered ways and means of uncovering the answers.

1) What's so important to Supergirl about her current job that she turned down the FBI offer?  
2) If I Kiera was Supergirl, (something about which Cat had no doubt), then why did she continue working at CatCo, despite the constant risk of being outed?  
3) Why had Cat missed the obvious counter to the threat of firing Keira/Supergirl?

Question one was easy. It took her only five minutes to work out a likely approach. All she had to do was get an interview with Supergirl about her first few months in the hero business. Along the way, she would ask about Supergirl's relationships with local law enforcement agencies and that would lead to the question of why she hadn't accepted the FBI's offer.

Question two was tougher, but she laughed when she finally saw the approach that was staring her in the face. Supergirl could work anywhere. It was Keira who worked at CatCo. All Cat needed to do was ask her assistant why she stayed at CatCo, despite the plethora of job offers in her desk drawer.

Question three was the hardest. Finding out the reason she hadn't foreseen Keira's counter to her ploy kept her up most of the night.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning, as Cat left her private elevator, her assistant met her, latte in hand, just as usual.

"Good morning, Miss Grant."

"Good morning, Keira. Do I have any messages today?"

"No, you start the day with a clean desk." her assistant replied as they walked into Cat's office.

"That's nice. What does my schedule look like this morning?"

"You're free until the editors meeting at 10:30, Miss Grant."

"And this afternoon?"

"You're meeting with the guy from Germany, _Der Speigel_ , I think, about some Supergirl reprint rights. That's at two, but there's nothing after that."

"Thank you. Oh, and Kiera?"

"Yes, Miss Grant."

"I was a bit rushed this morning. Do you mind going to Noonan's and getting me one of their English muffins with a poached egg in the middle?"

"No problem. I'll be back as quick as I can."

As her assistant walked out, Cat checked her schedule for rest of the week and next week. As Keira left by the main elevator, she blocked out all the evenings in her calendar for the next two weeks, and counted slowly to 200. Then, she picked up her handset and placed a call to her art director.

"Good morning, Mr. Olsen."

"Good morning, Miss Grant. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to get a message to Supergirl for me. I'd like to invite her to meet me here at six in the evening any day this week, except Friday or any evening next week. Please tell her that I don't anticipate asking any uncomfortable questions; I just want to give National City's people a chance to get to know their superhero a little better by getting her perspective on how she sees the last few months since she started out. And if is able to come at six, I'd like to invite her for dinner, so find out what she'd like. Please let me know which day works for her, but if none of these times work, please ask her what times would work for her before next Friday, and I'll clear my schedule to fit.

"I'll send the message along, but as you know, I can't promise when I'll hear back. I'll let you know as soon as I do though."

Cat carefully did not add any pressure this time.

"That will be fine, Mr. Olsen. Thank you." And Cat hung up the phone.

"That's step one."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The editors meeting went well that day. As it ended, Kara moved to her boss' side, ready for any post-meeting instructions. But today Cat seemed pleased. She began to wave her off, but then she changed her mind.

"Keira, please go and get the daily layouts from Mr. Olsen."

"Yes, Miss Grant."

As her assistant left the office, Cat thought, "That's step two."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As Kara walked into the Art Department office, her friend was just finishing the last layout. "Hello James, are you finished with the layouts? Miss Grant wants them."

"Yes, they're ready." But he didn't hand them over, and his voice was worried.

Kara knew James very well by now and she picked up on his concern. "What is it?"

James walked to the door and locked it. "Cat called me early this morning. She wanted me to pass on a message to my friend in blue's local cousin. She wants a meeting, here, any evening this week or next with the exception of this Friday, or any other time that will suit the lady's convenience. And if an evening meeting time works, Cat wants to know what she'd like for dinner, so she can order in."

"Did she say what it's about?"

"What she said was that she didn't anticipate asking any uncomfortable questions; she just wants to give National City's people a chance to get to know their superhero a little better by getting Supergirl's perspective on the last few months since she emerged on the scene. And while that's logical enough, I got the vibe that she may have something more on her mind."

"Hmm . . . So she may, but her offer makes good sense. I'll do it. Tell her tomorrow at six will work, and that the lady's partial to the roast lamb platter from Stepho's Place, that Greek restaurant across the street from Noonan's. And also tell her that your friend's cousin made a point of asking her to thank her son Carter for his help the night the Lord Technologies train was bombed."

"I'll do that. When should I call her?"

"Call her no earlier than 4:10 and no later than 4:30. And thanks, James."

"No problem."

And Kara left the office with the layouts for her boss.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was just after five when Cat Grant walked past her assistant's desk on the way to the elevator.

"Good night, Miss Grant. See you tomorrow." The faint rise in tone in the last syllable was inaudible to anyone else, but Cat heard the implied question mark. She let her assistant know where she stood.

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Keira."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the driver drove her home after the day's work, Cat Grant was preoccupied with the message she had received from Supergirl. She was getting the interview, which was good, the restaurant was no problem, but why had the hero made a point of asking her to pass on her thanks to Carter?

So after getting home and making dinner for them, she chatted with Carter about his day. He was slowly coming out of his shell but he still suffered from sensory and information overload more often than she would like. He was already two grades ahead in his science courses and he was earning top marks in his English courses. After dinner they moved to the family room, and Cat sprang her surprise.

"By the way, Carter, I have a message for you from Supergirl."

"What? Did you talk to Supergirl today, Mom?"

"No, Carter, I didn't. But I did send a message to her asking for an interview this week. We're going to be meeting tomorrow at six in my office, and when Supergirl sent the message that confirmed the time and place, she also asked me to thank you for helping her the night the train was bombed."

Cater beamed.

"You're going to interview Supergirl tomorrow? Can I come and watch?"

She'd hoped Carter would respond that way, and she was delighted that he had.

"Sure, but you'll have to promise to keep everything you hear to yourself. And you'll have to come after 5:30. Can you do that?"

"Sure, Mom. Can I help you with your questions?"

Cat grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask. I want to be able to give our readers a picture of what it's been like for her being Supergirl since she saved that plane." She handed him a piece of paper. "Here's the questions I have so far. Can you think of any I've missed that you or your classmates would like me to ask?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day was a quiet one for Kara Danvers. She met Miss Grant with the usual latte, she went with her to the daily morning meeting (this time it was the board's finance committee), she snuck in a quick downtown patrol for part of her lunch hour which merely involved flying around. After lunch, she solved a few internal CatCo crises. On top of that, there were no DEO or NCPD emergency calls she had to respond to. All in all, it was a pleasant day.

At five fifteen, she checked with her boss. "Do you need me anymore today, Miss Grant?"

"No, Keira, you can go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Miss Grant."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was precisely six o'clock when Supergirl touched down on Cat Grant's executive balcony. The door to the office was open. Cat was sitting on the office couch that faced her, with her son Carter by her side.

"Good evening, Supergirl. Come in. When I passed on your thanks to Carter, he asked if he could sit in on our interview. Is that all right with you?"

"Good evening, Miss Grant, Carter. No, I don't mind at all if Carter joins us; it's good to see you again." Supergirl walked in and sat down on the couch facing the Grants.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, and thanks for suggesting the restaurant. The food smells great. So why don't we have our dinners first, and chat afterwards?" Cat suggested.

"Sure," Supergirl agreed.

They began the meal and for a few moments they enjoyed the food. Then Carter asked: "Did you have food like this on Krypton?"

Supergirl shook her head, sadly. "No we didn't have earth animals. We had some of our own, but they tasted differently. Same thing with vegetables and fruits. Everything was different from here. And you have something here that we didn't have on Krypton at all."

"What was that?" Carter asked.

"Birds," Supergirl replied. "When I got here, I couldn't stop watching the birds. I watched them for flying around for hours; they looked so cool."

"What did the foods on Krypton taste like?"

"That's a hard question to answer, Carter, because I can only describe them in comparison to earth foods. And I suspect that my senses of taste, smell and touch have been enhanced by living under a yellow sun, just like the rest of my senses have been enhanced. So tastes here are so much stronger and more vivid to me. The most dried out apple here is supersweet and tender compared to the sweetest Kryptonian fruits we had, but I can't even make a guess at what an anexto would taste like to you. You might have found it as sweet as an apple or maybe not; I just don't know."

"What do you mean, your senses are enhanced?" This was Cat.

"It's something like what many people who live in cities experience when they go for a holiday in the country. Because the air is fresher, with less pollution and more oxygen, they feel more alive, they sleep better, foods taste better. Krypton had a red sun, while earth has a yellow sun. The yellow sun's rays energise me, and the slightly higher proportion of oxygen in the air here usually makes me feel more alive and happy."

"Wait a second," Cat objected, "Superman has said that he arrived on earth as a baby and grew up here. He's been Superman for about fifteen years and he was at least twenty when he started. So Krypton must have blown up at least thirty-five years ago. You are talking of Krypton as if you have memories of it. If you left as a child, you must be at least forty if not more and you barely look twenty. How old were you when you left?"

"I was thirteen when my cousin and I were sent away in separate spacecraft. His was launched first and it must have come straight to earth. Mine was launched less than five minutes later, but the delay meant that my craft was caught by the blast wave and knocked off course into a region of space near Krypton which had some freak properties. Kryptonians called it the Phantom Zone. My spacecraft was partially damaged but it recognized that something was wrong and it put me into a form of suspended animation for about twenty-five years until for some reason my craft was reactivated and it came to earth. When I arrived, I was still thirteen years old. So I have a child's memories of Krypton before it blew up."

The conversation continued with Carter quizzing Supergirl about the differences between earth and Krypton. As they finished eating, Carter turned to a new topic.

"Your name wasn't Supergirl on Krypton, was it?"

"No, your mother gave me that one. I hadn't decided what name I was going to use for doing this job and when she called me Supergirl in an article, I thought to myself, 'It'll do.'"

"But what was your name on Krypton, Supergirl?"

"You're as persistent as your mother, you know that? But I don't mind telling you, provided you promise never to mention it. Because it makes no sense for me to use it here."

"I promise," the boy replied.

"We'll if we were on Krypton, I would be Lady El to you."

"Lady El. Like the aristocrats?" This was Cat, in mildly scornful mode.

"Not quite, Miss Grant. The translation isn't exact, but I can't think of a better one. While Krypton did have social distinctions, they weren't the same as they are here. On earth, when somebody has a title it's usually an inherited title, on Krypton every one of our titled folk earned their titles. And although their children, like me, did get a secondary title that differentiated us from untitled people, that title didn't pass to the grandchildren of the primary title holder."

"How did people earn their titles?" Carter rejoined the conversation.

"Basically, by doing great work in certain fields. Both of my parents earned titles. My Dad was a Chief Scientist and my Mom was a Judicator, that is, a judge of the High Council. It was something like being a judge of the Supreme Court. It was a tradition in both of their families that at least one person in each generation would earn a title. In the El family, for example, there was an unbroken chain of title holders going back four thousand years."

"Wow," said Carter. "And what is your first name?"

"Carter," said his mother, "when you meet adults they are always Mr., Mrs., Ms. or Miss unless they tell you their first name. You don't ask them. Asking an adult their first name is rude. When somebody tells you their first name, it should be their choice."

"But Mom, I call your assistant Kara," said Carter, puzzled.

"Only because she lets you do that because you are her boss' son and she's afraid she could get into trouble with me if she corrected you. But if you had met her outside CatCo, you'd be calling her Miss Danvers."

"I don't mind answering the question," said Supergirl, "although it's another difficult one. You see, Carter, Kryptonian names had meanings. And the meanings don't translate exactly into English. For example, my Kryptonian first name translates as "the appropriate felt reaction to something beautiful," but that's a little long, don't you think?

"I'll bet it was shorter in Kryptonian," said Carter.

"Yes it was, but I'm not entirely comfortable using that word here. For one thing, it makes me think of my parents, and that's still a little hard. Although the shock is gone, I still miss them, and so the grief is still there."

"Oh," said Carter. "I'm sorry."

His Mom thought it was time to change the direction of the conversation, "Carter, would you mind stacking the dishes into the tray and putting it on the end seat by the far wall for the cleaners, while I start off the interview?"

Carter nodded and began to stack the dishes and cutlery.

"My apologies, Supergirl. Carter has not learned all the nuances of tact yet."

"I understand, Miss Grant. It's no problem."

As Carter returned, Cat spoke again: "A quick ground rule. I don't know whether you know it, Supergirl, but when someone is interviewing you, you have the following choices: you can refuse to answer the question at all, you can answer the question on deep background which means the journalist can't use the information in the article, but can only use it to inform his or her own understanding of the matter, you can answer off the record which means your words won't be quoted or you can answer on the record which means you may be quoted. And Carter, if you want to stay, you need to promise Supergirl something. If she says something must be off the record or on deep background, you can't tell it to anybody or even hint that you know it. If you do, you ruin my career, instantly."

"That's fine, Mom, I won't say anything."

"Thank you, Miss Grant, thank you, Carter. We'll keep the conversation on the record unless I say anything to the contrary. One question: if I say I can't be more specific about something, can you not print the question in the interview?"

"Normally no, but I will do that for you, this time. Would you have a problem if I include your stories about Krypton in the interview?"

Supergirl grinned, mischievously, at Cat. "I suppose not."

Cat caught the flashback to their first meeting and returned the grin. "So let's get started. It's been three months since you saved flight 237. In that time you've helped many people. You've saved them from car accidents, robberies, and muggings. You've flown people to hospitals, on one occasion you've flown an ambulance out of a traffic jam, and another time you caught a school bus as it was about to fall off a broken bridge. And then there were the battles with Reactron, Livewire, and that crazy train bomber. Was this about what you expected, or did you have any major surprises?"

"I did keep an eye on Superman's activities once I got here, so I had a fair idea of the kinds of things that might happen once I started using my powers publicly. But no, I didn't expect the three incidents with those people you mentioned."

"Have you learned any lessons or ways of being more effective, now that you've been helping people for a while?"

"I've learned a lot of lessons about the job and how to do it better. For one thing, with all the practice I've been having, I've gained much greater control over my powers. I can fully control my freeze breath now. And greater control means I don't tire myself out as much as I did when I started. For another thing, I'm really impressed by how many people come alongside to help when something goes wrong. People might not be able to do all I can do, but they do what they can, whether it's telling me that someone is still trapped in a bus, helping move people out of a dangerous situation as Carter did, or setting themselves up as a distraction, people do what they can to help. I've had more than one person put their life at risk to help me, and I'm very grateful to them for their trust in those moments, particularly the CatCo employee who distracted Reactron so I could get the item I needed to defeat him, and another CatCo employee who helped me capture Livewire."

"I know the second employee you mentioned, but who helped you capture Reactron?"

"Off the record?"

Cat nodded.

"That was your Art Director, James Olsen."

"I didn't know that. How did he distract Reactron?"

"He announced himself as Superman's friend. In response, Reactron started shooting fireballs at him, which he dodged. While he distracted Reactron I had the time to get the tool I needed to disarm him.

"And who helped you stop Livewire?" This was Carter.

"Good question, Carter. That was your Mom."

"Wow, Mom you did that?"

"I didn't really have a choice. Livewire would be coming after me whatever I did, so it seemed that the safest way to capture her was to team up with Supergirl. And I was right. But if we can go back on the record, Supergirl, are there any really big moments and other lessons that really stand out?"

"We're back on record," Supergirl agreed, "One big moment was rescuing that school bus that you mentioned. Those kids were so cute."

"You like children? Isn't that a weakness for someone in your position?" Miss Grant asked.

"Actually it's a strength. You don't want a sociopath to have my powers. Many people are afraid of my cousin and myself because they see the damage we could do if we didn't control our powers. Feeling compassion for others is one of the main drivers of that control. As for other big lessons, if I answer that question, we have to go to deep background for part of it."

"All right."

"The deep background lesson, and it's a huge one, came out of the fight with Reactron. You may remember that in my first meeting with him, which came after our first interview, he said that he attacked me because he wanted to hurt Superman. We found out later that he read the interview and knew we were cousins. The lesson I took from that is that I have to be doubly careful not to allow my private life to be identified with Supergirl. I don't want to see my family members or my friends attacked because somebody wants to get back at me. And once you publish this article, Miss Grant, you will have set up a pattern of personally interviewing Supergirl: that means an ill-wisher could find both you and Carter among the people who could be seen as Supergirl's friends. So we'll have to put our heads together at some point to minimize the risks to both of you."

"Yes, I see that. We'll talk about it later."

"We can go back on the record now," Supergirl continued, "One big lesson came out of the fights with both Reacton and Livewire. And that was that it's helpful to have somebody who can help me with technical support. I was able to capture Reactron because someone was able to identify the nature of his power plant and give me a strategy for dealing with it safely. Same thing, more or less, with Livewire. By the way, that's one big advantage that police forces have. They can quickly access expert information. In my case, I was lucky to know some people who could help out."

"If you need help like that and your usual sources are not sufficient, CatCo has an extensive contact list of experts in a huge variety of fields and it's constantly being updated. I'll arrange for Mr. Olsen to make it available to you."

"Thank you very much, Miss Grant."

"It's the least I can do. Any other lessons?"

"Another lesson got reinforced in the train affair. I'd known that Superman makes it a point to build good connections with law enforcement officials and to work well with them. So I started out doing the same thing. Those connections came in handy that night. You see, the police had asked me to go somewhere else that night to deal with another threat, but when the bomber was seen boarding the train, I was the only one who could board the train while it was moving. So they were able to call me, and I went to deal with that situation, knowing that the police would deal with the situation I had to leave."

"Maybe you should join the police," piped up Carter, surprising and pleasing his mother.

"The National City Police Commissioner did ask me to consider doing that. So did the local FBI office. But I don't think formal employment with either organization will work for me."

"Why not, Supergirl?" Cat asked. "I assume you're working somewhere: you do have to eat. Surely you could help more people if you gave your full time to being Supergirl while working for the police? And it would certainly solve the problem of medical insurance. If you get injured while doing something as Supergirl do you think it's fair that your employer's insurance pays the cost when, I assume, they don't know you are Supergirl? Also, how do you feel about deceiving your employer about who exactly they have hired? And how do you avoid inexplicable absences from your workplace?"

"Taking your third and fourth questions first, I didn't deceive my employer when I started. I hadn't come out as Supergirl then. Now I have set things up so my absences don't really cause a problem. I catch up when I get back. The answer to your second question is that my employer's insurance will never be charged for such injuries and there are good reasons why I can't be more specific. As for your first question, there are several reasons why I won't act as Supergirl on a professional basis, Miss Grant. For one thing, even if I joined one of these organizations, I couldn't save everyone. For another, if I did join a law enforcement unit, I'd spend all my time doing only part of what I'm doing now, and I don't want to feel restricted about what I can spend my time on. A third reason I won't do this professionally is that I don't want to be identified as a professional participant in the law enforcement process. I want to be the average citizen doing her bit to help. And the most important reason I don't want to join any law enforcement organization comes from the fact that Supergirl is a known alien."

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Cat asked.

"Compare Supergirl with one of the NCPD cops. Officer Smith goes out on her shift and she helps people as a cop. At the end of her shift, she leaves her role as a cop behind her at her station and she goes home to people who don't think of her as a cop. They think of her as Susie Smith, a girlfriend, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend but someone who is just like themselves. But in one very important way, I'm not like Susie; the key people in my private life know I'm not someone just like themselves, they know that I'm Supergirl; it's unavoidable. So unlike Susie, I get treated as the cop, both on and off shift. And like Susie, I need downtime, a place where I can be off duty, where I can relax and just be myself. I can't be Supergirl all the time. The nervous strain would be too much, just as it would be for Officer Smith to be on duty 24/7. Both of us would either crack up or abuse our powers. And that part of my life, where I can relax, is working at a normal job where normal people treat me as they would treat any other normal person.

"A normal life is overrated." Cat remarked.

"Not when you don't have one, Miss Grant. Just visit a cancer ward. The people there would give anything to get their normal lives back."

"I see what you mean."

"For me, being treated normally means being accepted for who I am as a person, not because of what I can do because of the powers I've acquired. And it's because those people I work with, who don't know me as Supergirl, and have accepted me for who I am, that I feel like I'm one of you. And it's partly because I feel like I'm one of you that I care enough about the people in this town to do what I do. If I were working for the cops or being Supergirl full-time, it wouldn't be good for me, or National City. In the long run, I can't always play Cinderella to my human stepsisters. If I'm going to be as effective as Supergirl needs to be, I need some time when I can go to the ball too."

"That's something I hadn't thought of." Cat said thoughtfully.

"I'm not surprised. It's not a problem any human has ever had to wrestle with."

"Well, you've certainly given me enough for a good story. But Carter has one more question for you."

Supergirl turned to look at the younger Grant, "Go ahead," she invited.

"Why are you doing this stuff? It takes up a lot of time, you could get hurt and you get criticized a lot."

"I don't like seeing people get hurt. It hurts me to sit back and do nothing when I see something bad going on and I can do something about it. For example, I couldn't let your Mom get hurt by Livewire, so I blocked her lightning bolt."

"By standing in the way and taking it yourself," Cat said drily.

"At worst, electricity only knocks me out, it doesn't kill me. You, on the other hand, it would have killed."

"Supergirl," said Carter hesitantly, then he ran to her and hugged her, hard. "Thanks, I'm glad my Mom's still here."

As she watched her son hug the hero, Cat Grant remembered that the girl sitting on the couch opposite her had saved her life, twice. Then with a shock that shook her, she realized that if Supergirl was Kara, she had broken her promise to give her a job for life, even before Kara had saved her position in CatCo.

As she quickly considered what she would do next, she barely noticed Supergirl's reply as she returned Carter's hug, "So am I, Carter. So am I."

"Then it's unanimous," Cat said, dryly. "Moving away from sentimentality, do you have any message you'd like me to pass on to our readers, Supergirl?"

"No, not really. I'm just happy people appreciate what I try to do."

Cat clicked off her recorder. "All right, we're done. Thank you, Supergirl."

"You're welcome, Miss Grant. Do you want to plan how we can minimize your risk now or later?"

"Later, I think. I have a couple of ideas that I can implement here to diminish my risk and Carter's, but I need to talk to one of my people before I go ahead with them. I'll have Mr. Olsen contact you after that, it shouldn't take more than a day or two. Unless you'd care to give me your cell number?"

"Not at this time. Good night, Miss Grant, good night, Carter."

"Good night, Supergirl."

Mother and son watched as the girl of steel walked out on the balcony and took off.


	3. The Second Interview: Kara Danvers

Cat Grant Investigates: Interview 2 Kara Danvers

For centuries, sailors have used the state of the weather at sunrise and sunset to give them advance notice of oncoming trouble. Today, those who work on the executive floor of CatCo Worldwide Media rely on the daily latte presentation to do the same thing. Although it takes less than thirty seconds, the latte ritual is as stylized as the Bolshoi ballet and as rigid as a Japanese tea ceremony. CEO Cat Grant leaves her private elevator, accepts her latte along with the inevitably cheerful "Good Morning," from her assistant and walks into her private office. But wise employees, (and no unwise employees last long on this floor), have long since learned that what happens in these few seconds is an accurate forecast of their day.

The key information is usually found in the CEO's reply to her assistant's greeting. A snarky tone and an insult means big trouble is coming for somebody and the entire floor almost visibly freezes. An insult in a civil tone is not quite so foreboding, but everybody double checks any of their work that is destined for Miss Grant's attention. A mere nod in reply, (the most common reaction), means people can breathe normally but are well advised to watch out. A response of "Good Morning," although very rare, lets the Queen of All Media's subjects know that their boss has had some unexpected good news, on the order of winning the Siegel prize and, in consequence, can be expected to act in a less-than-impossibly-demanding fashion for a change, but only until something goes wrong.

Kara Danvers is universally acknowledged as the all-time champion in the art of identifying and managing her boss' moods. Not that Miss Grant's reticent assistant has ever said a word about the matter. But during her unprecedented two-year tenure in the role, it has become clear to her colleagues that Kara has recognized every possible variation in the daily latte ritual and has devised the most appropriate responses to maximize her boss's efficiency while minimizing the threats to her coworkers. In fact, she has become so skilled in this arcane art that it has been several months since she was last unable to divine her employer's state of mind from Miss Grant's response to her greeting.

But this morning was different.

Miss Grant had emerged from her elevator walking slowly towards her. That was unprecedented: Miss Grant is normally the power walker's power walker. She replied "Good morning," to Kara's greeting, but she didn't look her assistant in the eye. Her boss was clearly preoccupied, but Kara had no clue as to what was preoccupying her. When Kara returned to her desk with a pensive expression on her face, everybody on the floor knew that something unusual was going on.

Twenty minutes later, the familiar voice called, "Keira."

She walked into the office. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

Her employer stood. "Close the door, please. We need to have a conversation that must not be overheard; I've forwarded the phones. Normally I would move to the balcony for such a conversation, especially given today's weather, but I suspect that that might be uncomfortable for you."

Kara froze, remembering the last two times she had talked with her boss on the balcony. But all she said was, "I'm fine with the balcony if you want to talk there."

"You are not an accomplished liar, Keira. I have seen you look like a doe in the headlights too many times recently. You are not entirely 'fine' with the balcony, are you?"

"No, Miss Grant, you're right. But you're the boss. It's your privilege to choose the location. And I can work with it if you want to go there."

"Then let's sit down here, please."

Kara Danvers' eyebrows rose. "Yes, Miss Grant."

The two women sat, facing each other on the white couches. As they did, Cat reviewed her plan for the thousandth time. Normally she knew what she expected to happen in a meeting and planned for every contingency, but this time she knew she had no control over either the course of the meeting or its' outcome. So she began with the most unthreatening statement possible.

"Last night after you left, Carter and I met Supergirl for an interview here."

"I'll bet Carter really enjoyed that," her assistant replied. "Do you want me to transcribe the recording?"

Cat instantly realized the strength of Keira's counter. By focusing on Carter and the recording, her assistant had removed herself from the situation. Which meant Cat had no easy way to move to a further discussion of whether Keira and Supergirl were one and the same. But Cat had no intention of going down that path just yet.

"Yes, Carter did enjoy the meeting, and yes, I do want you to transcribe the recording, but I mention the interview now for another reason entirely. In the course of our meeting, Supergirl answered the first of those three questions you left me to answer the other night, and she also unwittingly helped me answer both of the others. For your information, she turned down the FBI job for an unusual reason. It seems that if she is to function effectively as Supergirl, she needs a place where she can forget about being Supergirl for a while. Since her earth family knows who she is, her family can't be that place. When she's with people who know her as Supergirl, she's under a constant strain, and that's something I hadn't considered. So her daily work is the only place in her life where she can go 'off-shift,' relax and make friends with people who accept her for a normal person without superpowers."

"In addition, Supergirl also mentioned that she did not hire on at her present job after she came out as Supergirl, but somewhat before that. And there was another reason relating to her employment that drove part of why I was so angry with what I saw as Supergirl's deception of me which you'll see when you transcribe the recording. And you'll need to delete my question and her response so I can keep my agreement with her. And, of course, the big reason I was angry, was that I didn't, and still don't, like being thought a fool. But it's now clear that Supergirl didn't set out to deceive her employer deliberately. And finally, Supergirl's reply also shed a new light on your second question."

"From what I know of Supergirl, I don't think she'd be a happy deceiver of anybody. And I'd be very much surprised if she thinks you're a fool. But what do you mean by her reply addressing my second question?" Kara asked.

Cat replied: "You'd asked me why, if you were Supergirl, you were so loyal to CatCo that you continued working here, despite receiving a continuing flood of job offers and the considerable risk I'd out you thanks to your known resemblance to Superman that James Olsen saw. But when I talked to Supergirl, I realized that even those questions don't fully address the scope of your loyalty. Not only are you loyal to me despite those job offers and the ever-present risk of being outed, you are still loyal despite me breaking my promise to you that you had a job with me for life. And I gave you that promise before you saved my position with this company. Not to mention that I was also forgetting the not-so-minor fact that I owe Supergirl my life twice over. Keira, why are you still trusting me when I have just proven that I don't deserve your trust by threatening to fire you?"

At this, her assistant gasped, winced as if she had been shot, bit her lip, stood up, walked onto the balcony and looked out. Not without some trepidation, Cat quietly followed her.

"Keira?" She began, gently, but her assistant still did not look at her.

"Miss Grant, I never saw the situation as you breaking your word to me," her assistant began in a shaken voice. "Whether I'm Supergirl or not, I can see that it's one thing to promise a job for life to someone you know, who hasn't lied to you about who they are. But when that someone is hiding something, or you have reason to believe that she is hiding something major, like being Supergirl, from you, then things change. Because from your point of view, such a person would be dealing with you under false pretenses. And in such a case, all bets would be off. Given what you thought you knew, I wasn't in the least surprised you were angry, and I don't see you as breaking your word. As for Supergirl, has she ever expressed any wish to be rewarded in any way for what she does?"

"On your part, well that's very generous of you, Keira. But I disagree. It was Kara Danvers who saved my position with CatCo and it was Kara Danvers who was promised a job with me for life. And, so long as you want a job with me, I'll keep that promise. And as for Supergirl, it's not a question of whether or not she wants a reward, it's a question of what I owe that young woman. I owe her my life: now that I understand why she is living privately and working under a different name, there is no way I am going to fire any of my staffers who I think may be Supergirl. But that doesn't solve the main question. Why are you so loyal?"

"Miss Grant, how many major media companies recorded positive revenues in the last year?" Kiera asked.

"Five," Cat replied. "As you know, CatCo is one of them."

"And Fortune said that CatCo is the most innovative media company by far. More important, CatCo is the only one that tries to give both sides of a story on just about every major issue. And there were a whole bunch of other changes in the last 18 months that have made us a better news organization, the website revamp, hiring better people, focusing on core properties, buying and turning around the _Tribune,_ and launching our link with Supergirl. Each one of those ideas came from you. And you were able to come up with these ideas and run with them at least partly because you had more free time because you weren't continually training new assistants. I checked, and in the two years before I came on, you didn't initiate anything this major. I think it's important to National City that it has a strong CatCo. And CatCo needs Miss Grant to have a strong assistant so Miss Grant can come up with more ideas to help CatCo do better and grow stronger. On all the evidence, I'm the kind of assistant you need to help you do that. Since that's a rewarding career in itself, I'm happy to work for you. But there's more to it. This job, this place, working with you means more to me than you realize. Whenever I'm confused or overwhelmed, I come in your office and you somehow sense it. Like you were superpowered. And when we talk about what's causing the problems, I always walk out helped by your advice. I know I'm not going to be your assistant for the rest of my life, but I do know that whatever I do next will be easier because of everything you taught me. And the truth is, I need you now more than I ever have."

"I see," Cat replied. "So how about we leave things like this: as I said, you have a job with me for life. But suppose we try something a little different for a while?"

"What do you mean, Miss Grant?"

"It's becoming clear that the job of my assistant needs to be split between two people. One person should be an administrative assistant who handle the phones, the messages, my schedule, the travel arrangements and basic event planning under the supervision of my Executive Assistant, my personal troubleshooter who can act as my surrogate in resolving issues so I don't always have to come down as the heavy, as well as mentoring the junior AA. In addition to that, you'll be doing something else."

"What's that?"

"It's something I should have done when Supergirl first appeared. We need a dedicated Supergirl writer. Over the last couple of days, I've been trying to think who had the right combination of being able to cover all the bases in putting together a story quickly, think fast and accurately under very great pressure, and can be reassigned without creating a big hole in our coverage of other areas. And we don't have any reporter with all three of those qualifications available right now. But your response to my challenge the other day proved that you have exactly these qualifications. So you're getting a new assignment. Once we hire a junior assistant under you, whenever anything happens that draws Supergirl's attention, your job is to get to the scene and get the story. And if you see something that you think might draw Supergirl's attention, you should try to get a jump on her and get there first. All I ask is that you let me know you're leaving the building on a possible Supergirl story and I'll pass on any work you're doing to the AA. "

Kara Danvers stood stunned as she realized the implications. Not only had her boss told her that she was not going to fire her or out her as Supergirl, Cat had said that she would provide cover for her. All while giving her the perfect new job.

"Thank you, Miss Grant. I'll do my best."

"I'm sure you will. And to make sure of that, we won't send your stories through the desk editors. Supergirl is too important to CatCo, so I'll edit them myself. Three months probation, and if you survive that, we'll make it permanent."

"I understand. And that includes everything you're not saying. Thanks again. I'd better get started writing the job description for your new AA."

"Indeed you should, chop-chop."


End file.
